Orlando May Expand Role Of Minority Firms

The Orlando City Council gave tentative approval Monday to an ordinance officials said would give more businesses owned by minorities and women a chance to work on city projects.

But one minority contractor claimed the ordinance reduces already limited opportunities for local minority enterprises because it permits minority businesses from outside the Orlando area to participate in city projects.

Johnny Robinson, president of the Orlando minority contractors association, said the ordinance allows large contractors to look outside the area for minority firms to do subcontract work.

The ordinance ''puts the local, small minority contractor out of business,'' Robinson said.

City council member Mable Butler cast the only vote against the ordinance, saying she had not read it. She said she was not given a copy of the ordinance until shortly before the meeting.

The council will review the proposed ordinance a second and final time June 29. City officials plan to hold a workshop on the measure before taking a final vote on it. No date has been set for the workshop that will be open to the public.

The proposed ordinance amends the city's code that requires large companies to contract at least 18 percent of its city business to minority- owned companies and 6 percent to companies run by women. The revisions stem from a November workshop during which staffers suggested ways to strengthen the law aimed at ensuring minority participation on city contracts.

Among changes is a provision certifying businesses outside Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties to do subcontract work as long as the business is owned and operated by minorities or women.

Public works director Bob Haven said several major contractors have trouble finding enough businesses owned by minorities or women in the tri- county area to meet the percentage requirements. The amendment allows them to bring in businesses from elsewhere.

Members of the Florida Consumer Action Network argued that the proposed ordinance conflicts with their campaign to gain equal employment opportunities for poor and minority Orlando residents.

The network has been trying to persuade the city to adopt a hiring policy that gurantees a percentage of public construction jobs to Orlando residents. Robinson said contractors on the downtown arena project already are bringing in outsiders to meet contracting requirements. He said the provision legalizes that practice.

Mayor Bill Frederick said the ordinance was not designed to limit opportunities or to eliminate competition among qualified contractors. He said the program is a means of giving the businesses a boost until they can acquire projects without preferential treatment.

''It's to go way out of our way to get minorites off and running,'' Frederick said.

The proposed ordinance also shifts the responsibilities of certifying companies owned by minorities and women from the certification board to the city staff. The change allows city staffers to review certification applications on a routine basis. The board had been reviewing applications once a month. Under the change the board will hear appeals of decisions made by city staff.

In other action Monday, the council approved a resolution to start acquiring land for a shelter for the homeless. The 3-acre lot is on South Division Street between Interstate 4 and the East-West Expressway.

The city expects to buy the land by October and construction of a residential facility is set to begin in February. A coalition of social workers, clergy and civic leaders have launched a fund-raising drive to build and operate the shelter.